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Country up-and-comer Brett Eldredge has always been attracted to singers, a fact that should come as no surprise to anyone who’s heard the Illinois native’s soulful, distinctive baritone. “I always gravitated towards big voices, because as a kid I had this big voice coming out of me,” says Eldredge. “I was hooked on the story that somebody would be telling through their voice.” With his debut album slated to be released in 2013 on Atlantic Records and new single “Don’t Ya” at radio now, Eldredge is finally getting the chance to share a story of his own.

Although distant cousin Terry Eldredge is a member of seminal bluegrass outfit the Grascals, closer to home, Brett’s musical talent was the exception. The little kid with the big voice grew up listening to records from Ray Charles, Ronnie Dunn, and, of course, the greatest of them all: Frank Sinatra. His parents bought a guitar and a small sound system for Eldredge when he was a teen, and while he didn’t immediately take to the instrument – “I never could sit still long enough to learn it,” he admits – the sound system and its wireless microphone became a cornerstone of his early musical training. By age 15, Eldredge was a performer in demand for local functions. “I really grew to love the feel of the crowd,” he says.

Eldredge says there was no question that his passion for performance would carry him to Nashville, but his move to Music City after college made one thing clear: He was going to have to pick up that abandoned guitar. “I saw people on stage playing these songwriter nights, just them and a guitar,” he says. So Eldredge locked himself in a room to practice, and eventually started writing songs of his own. “It took me a while to finally get a hold of the guitar, but once I did I was hooked,” he says. “I think being a student of singers works to my advantage, because it taught me how to phrase things. I had melodies all over the place in my head.”

He has since moved on to writing with some of Nashville’s greats, including the legendary “Whispering” Bill Anderson, who taught him that one of the tricks to being a great songwriter is to “just keep writing,” Eldredge says. Two singles he’s released so far certainly prove his range: His 2010 debut, “Raymond,” was inspired in part by Eldredge’s own grandmother and her struggle with Alzheimer’s. Current single “Don’t Ya” hits the opposite end of the spectrum, an up-tempo flirtation that ponders the mystery of romantic relations, and showcases the sexy baritone in Eldredge’s voice. And during his own high-energy live shows, just like that kid with the wireless mic, Eldredge goes out of his way to connect with every member of the crowd. “That’s the place I feel more alive than anywhere,” he says. “Everything it takes to get to wherever I’m going to play – every airplane and car I ride in – is so worth it once I’m able to get up on that stage. I want everybody in the crowd to feel the energy that I’m feeling from them.”

As he continues to work hard at the craft of songwriting, there’s no question his talent will grow along with his audience. “You can create something from nothing, and that’s the coolest thing in the world to me,” Eldredge says. “This new music is me, and it’s taken every song I’ve written up to this point to get to where I am. I feel better about my music now than I ever have felt, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Even before signing his record deal in early 2016, rising star Kane Brown had already established a passionate online following in the millions. Almost immediately, the RCA Nashville/Zone 4 singer/songwriter was making chart history with the release of Chapter 1, which became the highest-debuting country EP of the Nielsen SoundScan era and featured the RIAA Gold-certified “Used to Love You Sober.” His Kane Brownfull-length released in December 2016, debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and Top 10 on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart. Country’s #1 best-selling new-artist album debut since 2014, Kane Brown also claimed the #4 spot as the best-selling new-artist album debut of 2016, in any genre, and launched the Platinum-certified smash “What Ifs,” featuring Lauren Alaina. The October 6, 2017, release of the 15-song Kane BrownDeluxe Edition builds on that success with four new tracks including “Setting the Night on Fire—a duet with Brown’s hero and RCA labelmate Chris Young—and “Found You,” a track that entered Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart at #1. Earlier this year, Brown impressively earned his first ACM award nomination as New Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as a CMT Music Awards Breakthrough Video of the Year nod for “Used to Love You Sober.” In addition to headlining his own series of sold-out tour dates, Brown was tapped for Florida Georgia Line’s 2016 summer tour and is currently a special guest on Jason Aldean’s They Don’t Know Tour. Beyond his flourishing music career—and inspired by his personal experiences and a desire to lend his voice as a platform—Brown recently partnered with Make Room, the nation’s leading organization addressing the rental housing crisis in the United States.

Since coming together a little over a year ago, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney—known collectively as Dan + Shay—have established themselves as one of country music’s most promising duos. With pristine vocals and a knack for writing clever yet relatable songs about looking for, finding and losing love, Dan + Shay bring a youthful sense of energy to country music. Their debut album, Where It All Began, harnesses that energy with 12 radio-ready tracks.

The album’s title comes from the last line of their debut hit single, “19 You + Me,” which, upon its release, had the biggest first week by a new duo in trade publication Country Aircheck’s history, was the most added debut of 2013 at country radio and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The harmony-rich song reinvents the popular theme of nostalgia through a flurry of evocative imagery: you were California beautiful, I was playing everything but cool; it was everything we wanted it to be, the summer of 19 You + Me.

“'19 You + Me’ is where it all began, and those words are the last you hear in that song. It felt appropriate for our first album,” says Shay, a native of Natural Dam, Ark.

“These 12 songs really define us,” adds Dan, who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh. The pair first met during a late-night jam session at Dan’s Nashville home. “They’re honest, and this whole project started with Shay and I writing songs together. That’s how we met. Where It All Began is the story of who we are, who we were and who we’re going to be.”

Already Academy of Country Music Award nominees for Vocal Duo of the Year, Dan + Shay are following in the footsteps of their perennially lauded influences Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw. And the sing-along songs that make up Where It All Began evoke the sound of those artists, along with a healthy dose of ‘90s rock and R&B.

But it’s the album’s writing that truly distinguishes Where It All Began. Dan + Shay wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the record and bring an educated yet hip slant to country lyrics. “We just love songwriting,” says Dan, who produced the album along with Danny Orton and Scott Hendricks. “We wanted it to be a rollercoaster of emotions and a rollercoaster of sounds, something that takes listeners on a journey. We want people to fall in love with the album from front to back.”

From the introductory whistles of opening track “Show You Off,” it’s easy to go along for the ride. The duo’s favorite to perform live, the album opener instantly identifies Shay as one of country’s best young vocalists. His pliable voice soars along to Dan’s deft guitar lines and the result is musical alchemy. “When you’re in love with somebody,” Dan says of the song’s message, “you’re infatuated with them and you want to be seen with them everywhere.”

The inspiration for “Stop, Drop + Roll” came from a rather unlikely source: the Stephen King horror film “The Mist,” which the guys were watching late one night. When a character burst into flames, Dan quipped that he needed to “stop, drop and roll,” and the likeminded duo knew right away that it was a song. “We paused the movie and literally wrote it right then and there,” laughs Shay.

Such anecdotes are proof that inspiration can strike at any time for a songwriter.

“What I love about the vibe that Dan and I have is we don’t worry about what we say,” continues Shay, citing album cuts like the intimate “Can’t Say No” and the bittersweet “First Time Feeling.” “When you’re writing, you can’t be scared to say anything.”

Anything or everything. One of the gifts that reveals itself upon repeated listenings to Where It All Began is Dan + Shay’s lyrical attention to detail. Songs such as “Nothing Like You” paint a picture in the minutiae, with lines about purple untied shoestrings and stacks of books.

“Lyrics don’t have to be cookie-cutter or straight down the middle,” says Dan.

But it does help if they’re conducive to group choruses, which the duo found out firsthand when touring with Hunter Hayes.

“We played ‘Show You Off’ for 10,000 people with Hunter Hayes and they all were singing the ‘ay oh’ chorus back to us,” recalls Shay. “It was amazing.”

Following a tour with Hunter, the guys will be joining Blake Shelton on his Ten Times Crazier Tour this summer.

“We’re such huge fans of these artists,” says Dan, “that it’s crazy to imagine that they believe in us enough to take us out on the road. We’re thrilled to introduce new fans to the music of Where It All Began.”

Earning an RIAA Gold certification for a hit single, going on tour with Blake, being nominated for an ACM—they’re all milestones that have become a part of the Dan + Shay story. And with the release of the hotly anticipated Where It All Began, the most exciting chapter is about to be written.

With all the chest-thumping going on in Nashville today, where bluster and swagger have replaced heart and soul, you half expect some of country music's male stars to be sporting bruises. Which is what makes Midland, a trio of friends based in Dripping Springs, Texas, so undeniably refreshing. Made up of singer Mark Wystrach, lead guitarist Jess Carson and bass player Cameron Duddy, Midland is the embodiment of Seventies California country, all smooth Eagles harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics. Their songs are intoxicating, sung with the twang of George Strait. And it's impossible to resist. Now, after endearingthemselves to fans with the hit radio single "Drinkin' Problem" and a self-titledEP, Midland unveil their full-length debut, On the Rocks(Big Machine Records).A collection of 13 tracks all written or co-written by Midland –the guys took their name from a Dwight Yoakam song –On the Rocksexcels at setting a mood, transporting the listener to another place and time. It's an albummade for wide-open skies, endless deserts and wondering where the road is going to take you next. "Drinkin' Problem," written with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, who produced the album with Dann Huff, reclaims the drinking song for classic country music, making it less about an endless party and more about self-medicating. "They call it a problem, I call it a solution / just sitting here with all my grand illusions," sings Wystrach, evoking the best booze balladsof both Gary Stewart and Merle Haggard, two of the trio's chiefinfluences. "Make a Little," a rollicking ditty, is more optimistic, soaring with the brotherly harmonies of Wystrach, Duddy and Carson and a timely message: "There's just not enough love in the world." The rapid-fire lyrics embody the cleverwordplay that is unique tocountry music –"we shouldmake a little, generate a little / maybeeven make the world a better place a little" –and also nod to Alabama, another country band that helped sparka revolution in the genre.Midland hearkenback to a time when an artist's personal style –colorful suits, tailored denim and well-worn hats –dovetailed with the music. And they tip theirhats to other groundbreaking artiststhroughout On the Rocks.The kick-back and get-high ode"Altitude Adjustment" name-checks John Denver, the majestic "Nothin' New Under the Neon" sounds like vintage Eddie Rabbit, andtheglorious "At Least YouCried" channels Dwight Yoakam. By album's end, the band
2returns to the Eagles, recalling their famous intro to"Seven Bridges Road," with the closing "Somewhere on the Wind." "On the Rocksis a confluence of our musical tastes and our reverence for classic country," says Duddy, whose wife, photographerHarper Smith, shoots all of the group's stylish photos. "This record is truly a nod to the time period we are influenced by," says Carson, a Pacific Northwest native, "and is an effort to bring that sound and that pageantry back to the forefront.""We write with a very visual storytelling approach. We paint that big picture and go to that place," says Wystrach. "Where is this story going? Let's paint it." "Electric Rodeo," with its plaintive piano, sweeping strings and high-in-the-saddle chorus, is a prime example of the "picture" the band talks about creating.And "Check Cashin' Country," a solo composition by Carson, stands asthe band's true-life road diary: the tale of a country-rock band trying to findtime to sleep as they hustle from gig to gig, barely making enoughmoneyto put gas in the tank. It's the country equivalent of Seger's "On the Road." Midlandfirst came together at Duddy'swedding in JacksonHole, Wyoming, where the three members endedup jammingonstage at therehearsal dinner. "It was this serendipitouschain of events,and it was the best week ever," says Wystrach, who, despite his hippie persona, was actually raised on an Arizona cattle ranch. "By the end, we knew the three of us hadamazing chemistry.""Midland isn't manufactured," says Duddy, born in California. "We are three real friends who stumbled upon making music together."Whether they intended it or not, Midland are filling a void in country,with songs that run the gamut from lush Urban Cowboyanthems to loose campfire sing-alongs. Putting theirown spin on a classic sound, they're making something old relevant again. "We are a band," saysCarson, declaratively. "That's a big part of the spirit of what we do, that group experience and camaraderie."Says Wystrach, "We've poured our hearts and souls into writing and making these songs and are extremely proud of what we've been able to create."With On the Rocks, Midlandhave captured a sound decades in the making that isjust right for today. Honk if you Tonk!
We're Comin' In Hot!

Aaron Watson isn’t interested in what someone else thinks he should do. But instead of getting lonely as he sidesteps expectations, he’s gaining followers––hundreds of thousands of them. Delivered with a warm smile and fueled by a wild spirit, Watson’s rebellion echoes the land that helped make him.
Watson remains strikingly similar to the people that still dot his native West Texas. They’re a rugged people, proud of home but humble and hardworking, the first to help a neighbor but also fiercely independent. And Watson is unquestionably one of them.
“I’ve always considered myself an anti-rock star,” Watson says, his drawl cracking slightly as he grins. “People don’t like me because I’m a rock star. People like me because I’m just like them.”
Throughout his 17-year career that spans a dozen albums and more than 2,500 shows throughout the U.S. and Europe, 39-year-old Watson has stubbornly and sincerely identified with the everyman––even as he’s proven to be the exception to the rule.
The latest evidence of Watson’s homespun singularity is Vaquero, an ambitious 16-song set of character-driven storytelling, level-headed cultural commentary, and love songs for grown- ups that promise to further solidify his status as one of today’s finest torch-bearers of real country music.
Vaquero is the follow-up to 2015’s The Underdog, an acclaimed collection that also made history. Watson was sitting at his kitchen table as his wife Kim scrambled eggs when he got the call: The Underdog had debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. It was the first time an independent, male country artist had ever outsold majors to premiere at the top spot. “We started jumping around and squealing like kids,” he says. “It was a beautiful moment because I got to share it with the girl who believed in me when I was broke and playing some pawnshop guitar. It is something I’ll never forget.” That momentous instant also arrived with a built-in challenge. “Once we dried the tears of joy, it hit me,” Watson says. “I had my work cut out for me for my next album.”
Determined, Watson committed to waking up every morning before the sun rose to write songs on that same old pawnshop guitar he scored 20 years ago. “I bet you I couldn’t get $50 for that guitar,” he says. “But it means the world to me.” He penned songs in the back of a bus on the highway, too, as the band spent the last two years playing more than 35 states and six countries.
The result is Vaquero, a bold album that confidently draws from Texas’ storied musical melting pot: dancehall shuffles, dustbowl narratives, Tejano, and more fill the record.
In writing the new album, Watson felt especially drawn to the idea of the vaquero, the original Spanish horseman that set the foundation for the North American cowboy, a solitary figure
with a legendary work ethic. Watson is a modern-day vaquero––he just gets up at 5 a.m. to wrangle songs instead of cattle. And while he won’t deny the pressure he felt following his last album’s success, outside barometers can’t compel him to change who he is or what he writes. Watson is Watson, chart-topping record or not.
“This is the first album I’ve ever made where if it’s the last album I ever make, I could be content with that,” Watson says of Vaquero.
One listen and it’s easy to understand why. Album opener “Texas Lullaby” pays lilting homage both to home and to the bravery of the young heroes fighting wars. Deep connections to place and family course throughout the record. Sing-along “These Old Boots Have Roots” celebrates new love by offering promises grounded in the honor and grace of past generations. A fiddle accents Watson’s lines playfully then escalates to a hopeful roar.
Romance is a central theme of the album, but Watson isn’t interested in adding to the steady stream of hook-up anthems coming out of Music Row. Watson’s love songs are celebrations of monogamy and the bonds that only time, mutual respect, and persistence can build. The swinging, fiddle-soaked “Take You Home Tonight” anticipates a steamy night in, while “Run Wild Horses” is a passionate ode to lovemaking featuring a standout vocal performance from Watson, whose laid-back croon lets loose and soars. Infectious first single “Outta Style” and shuffling “Be My Girl Tonight” both praise staying power and explore how to protect it.
Watson revels in another kind of love on the album closer, “Diamonds & Daughters.” Two years ago, his then four-year-old daughter asked him to write her a song for his next record. “I thought it sure would be special if I could write her a song right now that we could dance to at her wedding someday,” he says. That’s exactly what he did. A tender look at the past, present, and future, the song will undoubtedly touch every parent and daughter who hears it.
The title track is an accordion-fueled joy, buoyed by Watson’s delivery of life lessons courtesy of an old vaquero sitting alone at a bar. “Mariano’s Dream” and “Clear Isabel” are companion pieces, placed back-to-back to stunning cinematic effect. Plaintive instrumental “Mariano’s Dream” kicks off the experience, haunting and sad as an acoustic guitar carries listeners through a lush Tex-Mex soundscape. The song then segues into “Clear Isabel,” and listeners soon discover the Mariano named in the previous track is father to Isabel. A story of sacrifice and heartbreak, “Clear Isabel” imbues the souls who choose to cross a river in search of safety with the dignity and beauty they deserve. “It’s one of my favorite moments on the record,” Watson says. “I feel like if I could play Guy Clark that song, he’d smile.”
“They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To” begins as warm nostalgia, and other comforts before intensifying into no mere stroll down memory lane, but an increasingly indignant rant, capturing the hurt and anger of a country that’s currently reeling politically and socially. “I think it might be the best song I’ve ever written,” Watson says.
Refusing to worry about charts or current trends, Watson hopes the main thing Vaquero accomplishes is bringing his growing legion of fans joy. And no matter what happens next, he is anchored and ready. “It doesn’t really matter whether I’m playing a dancehall in Texas or a stadium tour around the world, I’m just me,” he says. “I won’t change. I’m just too rooted in what I believe in. When you’ve played for such a long time to nobody, now that there’s somebody, you really don’t take that for granted.

Sincere, endearing, energetic, and always smiling: All words that have been used to describe emerging country music star, Russell Dickerson, by his fans and peers alike. His infectious personality radiates in everything he does, whether he’s writing a song, singing in the studio, or meeting fans. He’s constantly making people laugh, and makes new friends everywhere he goes. He asserts, “I just love life. Every day is a great day!”

And lately there’s been plenty to smile about. The Nashville native and Belmont University alumnus had quite the surprising summer with the incredible grassroots reaction to his current single, “Yours.” The power ballad was selected for Sirius XM’s The Highway Find program, which showcases new, and often times unsigned, artists to country music fans across the country. And with his song competing with artists such as Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan on the satellite radio station’s weekly Hot 45 countdown, and successfully reaching #15, listeners have spent the entire summer discovering Dickerson.

In just a few short weeks, Dickerson’s fans have solidified him unanimously as the next big thing. Hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, massive sales numbers, and skyrocketing social media numbers from the fans have come pouring in. He happily keeps up with the messages daily across all his social outlets and reciprocates their dedication by responding to his fans personally.

“Since day one, all I’ve ever known is music. I love touring, I love playing the shows…I love connecting with every single person.” The multi-instrumentalist, and successful songwriter, is busy recording his next project, and is characteristically optimistic that his fans will embrace the album just as much as they have him. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the fans. I want them to leave my shows feeling changed. I live to make them smile.”

Born Racheal Lynn Woodward on 4 May 1994 in Baytown, Texas, country singer and songwriter RaeLynn came to the public's attention when she finished third on the second season of The Voice in 2012. Her brother Jake Holtz is a member of the Grammy-nominated band Leeland. RaeLynn signed a publishing deal with Dr. Luke's Prescription Songs and a recording deal with Republic Nashville. She later joined Warner Music Nashville and is currently working on her debut album, WildHorse.